Ventilating through fissured acoustical unit



Jan. 10, 1961 w, JACK 2,967,583

VENTILATING THROUGH FISSURED ACOUSTICAL UNIT Filed Sept. 23, 1957 I' .ll 4

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United. States VENTILATING THROUGH FISSURED ACOUSTICAL UNET William A. Jack, Hampton, N1, assignor to .l'ohns- Manville Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 685,635

3 Claims. (Cl. 181-63) This invention relates to structural materials and, more particularly, to an ornamental panel for use as a sound absorbing mediumt for acoustical treatment and for distributing circulating or ventilating air.

In wall constructions, such as ceilings, side walls and the like, it is common practice to employ acoustical units, such as mineral fiber panels, wood fiber panels and the like, to increase the sound absorptive characteristics of such walls. In some installations, it is necessary also to provide means for distributing ventilating air through such walls; this is done by drilling or perforating openings in the acoustical panels. However, since the panels usually have a pre-formed surface ornamentation, to obtain a certain aesthetic quality and/or to increase the acoustical efiiciency, as for example, fissured cavities, the added perforations drastically alter and detract from such pre-formed ornamentation. Because of this alteration and detraction, the use of the fissured type of acoustical units is somewhat curtailed in those installations Where the walls provide for air circulation as the aesthetic results may vary from room .to room in a particular installation depending upon the air circulation requirements of each room; as a result, design stability of such units is difficult to maintain.

The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an acoustical panel having a surface ornamentation, such as fissures or the like, which is also formed with air distributing openings in such a manner that the openings are either somewhat hidden from view or camouflaged by the surrounding cavity ornamentation on the surface of the panel.

Another object of this invention is an acoustical panel which provides excellent distribution of circulating or ventilating air and in which the surface ornamented by fissures or similar cavities remains relatively clean by the passage of air through openings in the cavities, thereby preventing soiling of the acoustical panel employed as a wall or ceiling finish.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an acoustical panel which contains fissures, or similar cavities, and air metering openings, with each such panel conforming approximately to the same standard of architectural or aesthetic quality as a similarly fissured acoustical panel without such openings.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an acoustical panel which accomplishes the aforementioned object without impairing the acoustical efiiicency of such panel.

In its essence, the invention comprises a plurality of holes or perforations extending from some of the cavities in the front portion of a fissured acoustical unit or panel to the rear surface thereof; these perforations provide for proper air distribution and, at the same time, do not detract from the basic aesthetic quality of the acoustical panel and, therefore, do not alter or deviate from the aesthetic standard of the panel. The air distribution is accomplished and the aesthetic standard is maintained 2,967,583 Patented Jan. 10, 196i without impairing the acoustical efiiciency of the acoustical unit.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become apparent when reference is made to the more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is to follow and to the appended drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view through an acoustical wall structure showing the acoustical fissured panels, embodying the present invention, suspended from a building structure;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an acoustical panel embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the panel along lines 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawing and particularly to Fig. 1, there are shown a plurality of acoustical units or panels 10 assembled to form a facing 18 suspended from a secondary ceiling or building slab 2t? such that a plenum chamber 22 is formed between the facing 18 and the slab 20. Air is circulated in this plenum chamber for distribution to the structural interior for heating or cooling purposes depending upon the seasonal requirements. To create this chamber, the panels are suspended from the slab 20 by a plurality of hangers 28 which are fixedly secured at one end to the slab and, at the opposite end, are removably secured to I-beams 24 by spring clips 30. Each panel has formed in its edges a peripheral groove 32, a wall surface of which rests upon legs 26 of adjacent pairs of I-bearns, so that each panel is mated with the next adjacent panel at an I-beam. Spring clips 30, attached to hangers 28, are fastened around the I-beam leg 27, opposite legs 26, to retain the I-beams and with them, the acoustical panels in place. The suspension means, per se, are well known in the art and form no part of the present invention.

Referring also to Figs. 2 and 3, each acoustical panel 10 comprises a plurality of fissures .or cavities 14 provided in one surface thereof, exposed to view, and which extend only partially into the body of the panel. The fissures are of irregular contour, are randomly spaced, and vary in cavity depth to produce a panel with a modified worm-Wood effect. The panel may be beveled, as at 12, to exaggerate the juncture and tile-like effect when the panel is combined with others to form a ceiling. A plurality of holes 16 are either drilled or perforated in the panel and extend from the cavities 14 to the opposite surface thereof. The size and number of the holes vary depending upon the air metering requirements of each particular installation.

Since acoustical panels are either fissured before painting or subsequent to painting, these added openings to blend in well with either type of painted panel. Where the panel is painted prior to fissuring, the perforations 16 have a wall surface which is unpainted or of a texture of untreated fibers similar to the wall surface of each of the cavities 14. It is readily seen that with this type of panel, the perforations 16 are camouflaged by the cavities 14 and each combined cavity 14 and perforation 16 has an appearance governed solely, or substantially so, by the appearance of the cavity. In the other form of panel, i.e., where the panel is painted subsequent to fissuring the panel may be left as is or repainted after perforating. If it is repainted, the perforations 16 blend in with the cavities 14 as the two will have the same wall surface treatment and the combined appearance of each cavity and perforation is dominated by the appearance of the cavity. If, on the other hand, the panel is left as is, the perforations 16 are not readily visible from the interior of the room as each of the cavities produces a shadow effect thereby tending to obscure the added perforations. In this type of installation, the hiding effect may be increased by perforating only through the deeper cavities, which cavities have a more pronounced shadow effect than the more shallow cavities.

The perforations 16 are illustrated as beingat right angles to the planar surfaces of the panel; if desired, they may be formed at an acute angle to such surfaces provided, of course, the perforations terminate at one end in the fissured cavities 14.

With either type of perforation, it has been discovered that a cleaning effect is produced by the air lowing through the perforations. The cavities, since they have a relatively rough finish, might tend to become soiled; the air blows away any dust or dirt which might possibly settle in and around these cavities.

It is readily evident therefore, that a panel has been provided which not only has excellent aesthetic and acoustical qualities but also has means provided therein for the distribution of circulating air without detracting 1 from or altering these qualities. In a design of a particular installation, the architect can rely upon the aesthetic characteristics of the imperforate, fissured panel to produce a particular design in'a perforate construction with assurance that the added perforations Will not alter the basic aesthetic character of the imperforate, fissured panel.

Having thus described my invention in rather full detail, it will be understood that these details need not be strictly adhered to but that various changes and suggestions may present themselves to one skilled in the art, all falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. An acoustical unit for a combined air distributing and acoustical ceiling comprising, an acoustical panel of substantial thickness, said panel having a first surface adapted to be the visible surface of the panel and a second surface considered the rear side of the panel, said first surface having non-uniform and irregular, spaced fissures formed therein extending only through a partial thickness of the panel, and said first surface also having a plurality of air metering openings, of the drilled or perforated type, extending from at least some of the bottoms of said fissures through the body portion of the panel to the second surface of the panel.

2. An acoustical unit supported from a wall surface comprising a relatively thin panel, said panel having a plurality of random, spaced, fissured-type cavities formed in one surface thereof, some of the cavities extending to a substantial depth in said panel but terminating short of the opposite surface of the panel, said panel also having a plurality of air distributing openings, of the drilled or perforated type, extending completely through the body portion of the panel, with said openings having ends terminating at the cavities having a substantial depth, and the opposite ends of said openings being connected to a source of conditioning air.

3. In a ceiling structure for a room interior, said structure having a plenum chamber with provisions therein for circulating air therethrough and having a plurality of acoustical panels comprising a visible surface of said wall structure and one wall of said plenum chamber, each of said panels comprising a body portion, a pair of relatively planar surfaces comprising the visible portion of the panel and the rear surface thereof, said visible surface having a plurality of randomly spaced, fissure-like cavities extending only through a partial thickness of the body portion of the panel, and said visible surface also having a plurality of openings extending through the body portion of the panel, each of said openings terminating at one end of one of the fissure-like cavities and at the opposite end at the rear surface of the panel, said openings providing for the circulation of the ventilating air between the plenum chamber and the room interior through the acoustical panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

